


The ways of the water

by MissMariel



Series: Chronicles of a Hopeful Few [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: A character study done in flashbacks, Gen, Other, both without a name rn, mentions of father Stamen-Limu and the grandfather
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23345503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMariel/pseuds/MissMariel
Summary: A young water genasi grows into a powerful druid.
Relationships: Faerryn Stamen-Limu & Aianna Stamen-Limu, Faerryn Stamen-Limu & Azuris Stamen-Limu, Faerryn Stamen-Limu & Clarity Stamen-Limu, Faerryn Stamen-Limu & Machelle Rowena Renay, Faerryn Stamen-Limu & Nismyl Saurflayer
Series: Chronicles of a Hopeful Few [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679092
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	The ways of the water

"Watch out!" The small girl jumped back, just out of reach of the scalding hot wave splashing out of the pot. Her mother rushed over and quickly bent the water away from her daughter, before turning and crouching down in front of her. Gently she took her hands and looked them over for the inevitable blisters. 

"What were you doing Mama?", the child looked up at her with wide eyes. When she couldn't find any burns, she smiled softly and kissed her forehead. "I'm making soup dearest." Shaking her head the girl stretched out her arms and pointed at the soup pot again. 

"No, this!" She waved her hands in a similar way as her mother had and again a few thin trails of the water rose up and threatened to spill over the edge of the pot. Her mother's eyes widened and with one quick flick of her wrist she banished them back into the pot. Then she chuckled and picked up her daughter. "Oh Faerryn, my little droplet… I think it's time that I teach you." And with a kiss to her cheek she carried her out of the kitchen. 

Aianna was walking down the hall when she heard a noise from her older daughters room. Worriedly stepping closer, she realized that it was sobbing. Her daughter was crying! Quickly she knocked and poked her head in. "Is everything alright, droplet?" 

When Faer came home from her first day of school, she dropped her backpack in the corner and went straight into her room, closing the door behind her. She curled up on her bed, burying her head in her arms and didn't look up when her mother entered. 

As she sat down next to her though and gently placed her hand on her back, Faer lifted her head and looked at her with tears streaming down her face. 

"I hate boys." Her mother looked at her surprised for a moment, before schooling her face back into a gentle smile. "Did something happen at school dear?" Faerryn shook her head and wiped her nose on her arm. "No. But Miss Veronica said that all boys marry girls and all girls marry boys. And I don't like that, I don't wanna be married then." 

"But… Don't you want to-", her mother started. "No!", Faer shook her head vehemently, with as much vigor as a small six year old could manage. "All the boys are gonna marry all the pretty girls and then there'll be no more for me to marry! I don't. Like. Boys!" 

_Woosh_

Another flower fell to the ground. Hastily Faer reached out to grab it, before ducking back into the fort again. 

"Take that, evil villain! You won't win this time!" The stick came back, swinging the other direction, just barely missing another flower as Sir Azu defended her from the invisible bad guys. 

"Azu?" A small blue hand reached out to tug on his shirt, which caused him to whirl around and almost hit his sister in the face with his "sword". 

"My lady, Faer, I thought I told you to call me Sir? I'm a knight!" 

Faer ducked away from him. "I'm sorry. I made you this…", she mumbled, holding out a flower crown made of all the flowers Azuris had accidentally cut off while fighting. His eyes widened and he kneeled down bowing his head. "Thank you, your highness, I feel honored to receive your flower crown of protection. Please." Faer giggled and gently placed the crown on his head. 

"You cannot fight anymore now though, it is a sign of peace", she declared and grabbed his sleeve to pull him down next to her. Azu huffed, but let himself be pulled down. Faer smiled and immediately leaned against his side with her head resting on his shoulder. For a while they sat quietly, staring out of the fort made of twigs and moss, until Azu broke the silence. 

"You know I'd do anything for you Faer, right? I'd fight a million dragons and all the demons in hell." She looked up at him with wide eyes. "Really?" He nodded eagerly. "Of course, you're my sister! And somebody is gonna have to save you when you get in trouble!"

Faer nodded solemnly, for a moment she looked much older than seven as she looked back up at her brother with wide blue eyes. "If anyone ever hurts you, I'll find them. And they won't do it again, I promise." Azuris stared down at her in utter shock. Until she poked his ribs and complained: "It's your turn again, say something." 

"I, uh…", he shook his head. _Did she even know what she was promising there? She couldn't, right?_ "I'll go to the end of the world for you, and I will always protect you Faerryn. I promise." She giggled and hugged him tightly, the moment of weird seriousness seemingly over. "We'll protect each other!" 

"Yeah…", he smiled slightly and ruffled her hair. "I guess we will…" 

"Today we're going to be doing group projects." At Miss Susian's declaration the entire class groaned. They were pretty mixed age wise, with a good mix of humans and dwarves, a few elves and even one genasi, but group projects were a despised constant for every student. 

"I will choose the teams", the human continued, followed by a couple of sighs from the back rows, "you will choose a topic about the history of this city and in two weeks you will present your findings to the class." 

Hushed whispers went through the class and Faerryn let her eyes roam around, wondering who she'd be paired off with, as the teacher began to read off names: "Breanna and Keineth. Claris and Heide. Faerryn and Nismyl." 

Her head snapped up and she looked around once again. After a moment she locked eyes with a dark-skinned dwarven girl. She looked kind of intimidating with her dark red leather jacket and her gold-brown hair done up in two half-buns, each adorned with a spiked golden ribbon. Faerryn glanced down at her light blue shirt for a moment and sighed. This couldn't end well… 

Faerryn was on her way to the market. It was almost Candlenights and she hadn't gotten enough gifts for her family yet. She must've not been looking where she was going in her hurry, because suddenly she collided with a tiny person. Quickly stepping back, Faerryn lifted her hands with an apology on her lips: "Oh sorry!" 

But the person - who she could now see was a young elven girl with dark skin and bright eyes - was already shaking her head and standing up. "It's alright." Faerryn nodded and smiled at her slightly. Her clothes were travel-worn except for her thick coat, which looked brand-new. "You don't seem like you are from here." 

"Me?", the girl looked surprised. "Oh no, I'm not. I'm just staying here for a small time." Faerynn nodded slightly. So she was right about her being from somewhere else. Then her eyes widened. "Really? Where are you staying?" 

"At Amalimu", Faerryn tensed up, but the girl just continued, "Some kind older man. The hotel was fully booked." Faer nodded slowly as she looked the girl over again. She didn't at all seem like the typical arrogant High Elf. "Oh… Are you staying for the Candlenight?" Maybe she'd see her again then. That'd make that visit at her grandfather's house much better! 

"Yes. But I'll probably spend it at the library." The girl smiled shyly even as Faerryn deflated slightly. "Do you know where it is?" 

She nodded again and pointed down the road. "Go down this road and then to the left, then the right.", she described. The girl nodded and gave her a bright smile. "Thank you! Oh, what's your name?" Faerryn smiled back. "Faerryn." 

"Nice name, it's pretty, Faerryn…", the girl nodded to herself. "My name is Machelle. I guess I'll see you around!" she smiled at her and waved, before hurrying down the street towards the library. Faerryn stood and looked after her for a moment, thinking how right she was… 

"Do you have everything, darling? Map, food, water, clothes?" The man looked up from his checklist to meet the eyes of his daughter. Faerryn, who was now a young woman, nodded as she looked through her backpack. "Yup, and money, ink and paper. Don't worry Dad, I'll be fine." 

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you, dear? Not even a little while?" Faer laughed lightly as she dodged her mother's fluttering hands. "It's fine Ma, I'm gonna be alright!" She swiftly leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I'll write soon, I promise." 

Her mother nodded slowly and took a step back. Faerryn smiled at her softly, before taking a step back and letting out a soft: "Oof." Looking down, she was greeted by light blue hair floating up at her as Clarity hugged her middle tightly. 

"I'm gonna miss you, Faer…", her younger sister mumbled, her face hidden in Faerryn's coat. Faer smiled warmly and hugged her back. "I'm gonna miss you too Clari", she said, leaning down to press a kiss to her head, "I love you." 

"My little droplet is growing up…", her mom whispered behind her hands. Faerryn looked up at her and slowly let go of Clarity, gently pushing her sister away so she could hug her too. "I love you too, Ma. It's gonna be alright, I promise." As she let go after a moment, she turned to hug her Dad too and then towards the door. 

"We'll, I suppose I shouldn't leave Azu waiting any longer. I'm sure he can come back soon to tell you I made it to Heathwood safely." With that she shouldered her backpack and took a step towards the door. "Oh!" Faerryn stopped as her mom clapped her hands together and turned back with a questioning look. 

She frowned as she hurried off into the living room. A moment later she came back, one hand hidden behind her back, and went over to Faer. "Almost forgot to give you this. Here",she said, smiling softly and handing her a rabbit's foot, "For good luck." 

Faerryn looked at it for a moment, then wrapped her hand around it and nodded. "Thank you Mom. I'll cherish it." She pressed another quick kiss to her cheek and left, making her way to the docks where her brother would be waiting to let her onto the next ship going west. 

The sun was shining through the trees above, casting dancing shadows on the sandy path, as Faerryn made her way away from the city. She'd stopped in New Springs to get some food and water there and also acquired a map of the local area. On that she saw that there was a small lake in the forest surrounding the city. 

After a while she stepped off the path, fairly certain the lake was right around the corner. And indeed, a couple bramble bushes and some hundred meters later, she stumbled into a clearing. 

In front of her laid a beautiful lake, the water glittering in the sunlight and reed gently swaying in the light breeze. As she turned to her left, her eyes fell on what seemed to be a small wooden cabin. It was made of dark, weathered wood and half overgrown with vines. 

Intrigued Faerryn stepped closer, taking note of the silvery-white moss - a dangerous toxin, if used correctly - as she pushed the door open. 

The room immediately behind it was small, but not too cluttered. Whoever had built this cabin only left behind a few clusters of things. As she went through it to clean up a bit, she found a few unknown coins, a string necklace, two toy soldiers and a map of a place called the Orodad Empire. 

It had clearly not been used in a long while, but with a little work it'd be liveable and even comfy in a few months… 

Autumn rolled around and Faerryn saw herself once again faced with the cold of the winter. She had grown quite a bit in the past two years and her coat that she brought with her from home was getting thin. So Faer scraped together what money she got from selling the fish she caught in the lake, and made her way towards New Springs. 

The leaves had started to turn red and orange already and as she walked through the streets, she saw that the people had put up orange and red pennants. The few that were out also wore wilted and dried flower crowns to celebrate the passing of seasons and for a moment Faer's mind drifted off to the past. To similar autumn afternoons filled with warm laughter and pretty dark eyes. 

As she looked around, searching for a shop, her eyes caught on the announcement board on the town plaza. Of course she'd seen it before, but today something about it just seemed to call out to her. Stepping closer, she noticed a particular paper that was new. "New Springs Guild", it read in bold letters on the top. As Faerryn kept reading, she realized it was a job offer. Or a training program, it wasn't quite clear. 

They offered free food, a place to sleep and train as well as study to your hearts contents. In exchange those who were to take them up on it, would be employed by the state and would be sent on missions all around the continent. The paper didn't detail what those missions would be, but Faerryn was intrigued nonetheless. 

She ripped off a scrap of the bottom which had the address on it. She'd been alone in the woods long enough, it was time for her to get back under people, she decided. 


End file.
